A former minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Chief Nduese Essien, yesterday noted that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Akwa Ibom State will suffer if the Senate Minority Leader and former governor of the State, Godswill Akpabio, defects to the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Essien further explained that it would be impossible for APC or any other political party to remove the PDP in the state irrespective of defection of those considered political godfathers.

The ex-Minister told Sun, “Presently, I do not see the possibility of another party taking over the governance of Akwa Ibom in 2019.

“You know it takes some years to build structure from the ward level to the local government level and to the state level.

“The other parties now coming to Akwa Ibom are just beginning the process of building and before they can attain it, I think we should be thinking beyond 2019.”

Essien added, “The defection of National Assembly members cannot be a determinant of the future of the party.

“But if the current minority leader in the National Assembly ever defects, it will be a strong capitulation for the PDP because he already had a base at the state level.

“If he defects, he will be going with that strong base. But knowing him for who he is, he is not likely to defect.”